Carport kits making your life easier

When I was a kid, I had a Little Mermaid tent that I adored. It was about three feet tall and wide, and consisted of PVC pipes that never quite fit together the way the instructions described them to, and a plastic cover that felt like a raincoat and smelled pure plastic, commercial heaven to my young nose. My poor parents were always disappointed when I asked for help setting up my tent and would let out a sigh of resignation. You see, this simple child's tent was no easy feat to put together.

It seemed to take on a life of its own each time it was removed from the box, and PVC pipes would just start moving and poking out of everywhere. It was practically impossible to get everything just where it needed to be in order for the tent cover to fit over it all and allow me to actually get inside. Every time I actually did get inside, without fail, I would remember that it wasn't actually all that fun to be inside a little tent all by myself, nor would I become a mermaid, but my 4-year old brain couldn't make that connection before all of the work and frustration had gone into the setup process. But I did at least recognize the need to play in the tent for as long as I could possibly stand, so as to help my parents feel that their work was not completely in vain. I think this may have had something to do with the brooding 4-year-old image I unintentionally cultivated; I was the Angelina Jolie of the under-five set.

Since then, it seems as though most things have only gotten harder. You can't please people just by playing in a tent they set up for you, and if something needs setting up, it's usually more complicated and impossible and full of tiny little parts that inevitably spill all over the floor. There is, however, one area in my adult life that I have found this depressing trend to be happily reversed, and that is in the construction of carport kits.

Yep, you heard me- carport kits. The simple little metal or canvas tents to protect cars from the elements (and birds). They are incredibly easy to setup, especially when you take into consideration the size, sturdiness and multiple uses for a carport as opposed to a plastic Little Mermaid tent. Within two hours of having brought it home, it was ready for business, and my car has been happy to have a roof over its head ever since.

You see, carport kits don't have any identity-confusion or whatnot. They are kits put together to ensure the quick and easy assembly of carports. They don't try to prove themselves by the level of difficulty involved in the set up process. They simply exist to help you have a carport, and they do their job phenomenally well.

But, you say, you live somewhere where the sun shines every day, and you don't have to worry about the weather affecting your car? I say to you, have you ever gotten into a car on one of those lovely sunny days and had a bit of a painful experience sitting on a seat that has been baking in that sunshine all day? or barely been able to touch the seatbelt buckle or steering wheel without melting the skin off of your fingers? Carports are not just for keeping your car safe from rain, snow and hail, but also from scalding seats and seat belts, as well as fallings from nearby trees and other plants. Sap, that seemingly innocuous though slightly sticky substance, can quickly make a great big mess of your vehicle. It's difficult to get off, and when you do, it often takes some of the car's paint with it. If you were committed, and had free time during the day that you wouldn't rather spend doing something else, then yes, I suppose you could just wash your car everyday. Personally, I have a long list of things I would rather be doing than washing my car, so the couple of hours I spent setting up my carport were very well spent, in my opinion.

Most things in life get harder as you age, so why not take advantage of this one little loophole in life? I bet you could even find carport kits with the Little Mermaid on them if you really wanted it.